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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355038">Night's Gentle Breeze</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid'>ThatDamnKennedyKid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Gods &amp; Goddesses, F/M, Female Uchiha Itachi, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:48:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,859</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355038</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Goddesses that rule the world are generally sweet, undemanding creatures, content to be equally as aloof as they are interactive, to walk among man and sequester to the stars. But they are not all worshipped equally, and that leads to situations like this one. </p><p>For the Night, you see, is dying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Itachi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Night's Gentle Breeze</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the roof of his apartment complex, Kakashi gazed out at the still and quiet forest. </p><p>There was a <em>thunk</em> beside him, a bright flash of yellow, and then a warm presence at his side, close enough to brush but not press. </p><p>"When Kushina asked me to seek you out, who would have thought you'd be in the first place I looked?"</p><p>"I hope he didn't make a bet with you. You know me better than anyone."</p><p>"I wouldn't go that far. Otherwise, you wouldn't have slept all through the day and be aware to stare out at the forest right now."</p><p>He finally turned to face her. "Busted."</p><p>Minato smiled gently, still radiant and shining even in her humanoid form. But then, she was the Sun. "So, tell me what's on your mind, my student."</p><p>Kakashi had devoted himself to Sun after his father had died, training heavily there in a light and acrobatic fighting style. She wasn't Konoha's matron Goddess - Hashirama sat very firmly in that position, Forest herself as the Lady of the Leaf Village being entirely natural - but she was one of the favourites of the pantheon. And she had been Kakashi's guide through grief and heartache, the favourite of her disciples and the one she visited the most, though she neglected none of them. </p><p>Minato reached a hand out, brushing through his silver hair. "Tell me, my dear."</p><p>"I know you're immortal, the whole pantheon is." He sighed, looking back out over the forest. "But something's wrong out there."</p><p>Minato followed his gaze, her smile falling. "This is what I feared being my favourite would do to you."</p><p>"Huh?" He turned to her again. </p><p>She laid her hand gently on his. "Proximity to a Goddess imbues a kind of blessing - a resonance with the immortal world. It allows you to be closer to us, so we may guide, protect and hear you better. But if we're too close, you experience the bleed-through from our end, no matter how diligently we suppress it."</p><p>"I don't understand."</p><p>"Yes you do." Her smile was pained. "You've spent more time in her company than mine, it's only natural that you would feel it."</p><p>"Minato, please-"</p><p>"Night is dying." </p><p>He fell silent. </p><p>Minato brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers. "You may be my student, but your natural place has always been in the darkness. You thrive here, away from even the gaze of the moon."</p><p>He frowned. "I'm your student."</p><p>"Your mind and your heart can belong to different people, young one." She looked down. "Truthfully, I've feared for Night for quite some time."</p><p>"What's wrong with her?"</p><p>"It's the fear."</p><p>"The fear? What's there to fear about nighttime? Or Night, for that matter."</p><p>"So many are afraid of what they don't understand, what they can't see, and she's a figure wrapped in dimness and shadow. They fear her to see her, they fear her if they don't. She's natural, and necessary - without her, I would burn the world, unable to grant a reprieve, and Sleep could not lull you. She's necessary, and the evil things that may lurk in darkness do not represent her. There are good things you can't see in the evening as well. You, for instance."</p><p>He chuckled. "I appreciate your faith in me. But if that's true, and she's made ill by the fear, what can we do?"</p><p>"The best answer would be that she needs someone to love her, someone not a Goddess. She needs mortal love, something she can keep close to her heart, even as her temples sit empty and unkempt."</p><p>"Where would I find her temples?"</p><p>"As with the res of us, she has one in each major land, altars in the small villages. Her main temple is a shrine in the Uchiha lands."</p><p>"I guess I'll have to take a trip down there." He stood, appearance leisurely, but heart set. "This feeling . . . I can't explain it."</p><p>Minato nodded knowingly. "Death is swift for mortals. For us immortals, death can take centuries." </p><p>He paused on the edge of the roof, looking back at the softly glowing deity. "I won't . . . loose you, will I?"</p><p>She broke into a blinding smile, strong enough to flare her glow and squish her luminous blue eyes shut. "Absolutely not. I'll always be here whenever you need me. That is, after all, what the kunai I gave you is for."</p><p>He automatically reached for it, as if to make sure it was still there, despite her ability to teleport to him. She only offered a gentle smile in return, reaching over to stroke his cheek. </p><p>"You should always follow your heart, Kakashi. Even if that leads you where your mind never thought to wander."</p><p>He leaned into her hand, closing his eyes with a tired sigh. "Okay, I will."</p><p>Minato stood, gracious and humming bright and beautiful. Was it even a wonder Kushina fell in love with her? "I'll always be here for you when you need me, dear one. You need only call."</p><p>"I won't forget."</p><p>"I'll see you in the morning, then." She winked and with a flare of yellow, disappeared. </p><p>He sighed, pushing to his feet. He wasn't anything like his mentor, with his dark eyes, pale skin and silver hair. Maybe Minato was right - maybe the darkness was really where he belonged. Maybe Night was who he needed, and maybe she needed him just as much. </p><p>He skipped across the roofs, landing softly on the edge of the forest with a gentle puff of air. No one had noticed him leaving, and no one had tried to stop him. Maybe that was Minato and Kushina's interference - he had no way to know. Instead, he just put his hands in his pockets and ambled into the forest. </p><p>"Lady of Konoha," He invoked, "our Matron of the Woodlands, I need your help."</p><p>The evening grew still, as though the trees were listening to his words. </p><p>"By your grace, lead me to Lady Night."</p><p><em>At last,</em> the woods around him seemed to sigh.</p><p>A woman melted from the trees, her skin and hair the same colours as dappled bark. A soft smile came to her lips, and she gestured him forward. "Come, son of the Sun. I'll show you to her. And no need to be so formal." She laughed and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Just call me Hashirama."</p><p>"Er, okay?"</p><p>"Great! Let's get going. She lives far away from here. I'm sure Minato would take you, but obviously this place is a little bit beyond her reach. Night's always been pretty reclusive, but she's gotten so much worse these last couple hundred years. I was beginning to get worried no one would come."</p><p>"Well, apparently, I'm your man." He tried to joke, but it fell flat. </p><p>"It does seem that way, huh?" Hashirama laughed again, the trees around her whispering and sighing in bliss. "Minato does speak highly of you, Hatake Kakashi."</p><p>"Is that so?" </p><p>"It is indeed. Highly enough for me to keep track of you when you run through my woods." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I know you've spent a lot of your time in the service of Minato, but you look like there's things you want to ask."</p><p>"There are, but most of them are for Night."</p><p>Hashirama poked him. "Just most?"</p><p>"If you're wondering what I'm curious about concerning you, I think that's an easy guess."</p><p>Hashirama shook her head with a fond smile. "Ah yes, Madara."</p><p>"You don't have to answer."</p><p>"Did you know that the Uchiha line is a divine one?" Hashirama asked, petting a tree as they walked passed, opening up a new path he'd never seen before. "Goddesses are more than capable of making our own clans without help - we choose to mingle amongst mortals, but we don't have to do so to create them."</p><p>"Like you did with the Senju?"</p><p>"Very much so." She hummed. "Most lines come from their own mortal seeds, but there are some. Goddesses don't tend to make them, clans that is. Most prefer to procreate in the normal fashion, lending themselves to mortal lovers and creating demigods. That's exactly what Minato's done, with Kushina and their son Naruto. He'll be a powerful force when he's older. And it's likely that Kushina and Naruto, when they pass, will join Minato in the sky as stars."</p><p>"Ah, I see." He knew about Vassal Mortals, the lovers and children of goddesses that ascend to join their divine family member. Figures that Minato's Vassals would become stars. </p><p>"But the divinely seeded clans don't share that with their matron. They don't ascend to her side. They gain power instead, specific to her will at their creation." Hashirama continued. "My Senju, for instance, are capable of growing trees, morphing plant life to their whim. That kekkei genkai was my gift to them, and in return, they continue to live in and protect my forests."</p><p>"I see."</p><p>"Which other divine clans are you aware of?"</p><p>"I know the Hoshigaki belong to Ocean, the Uzumaki to Storm. The Hyuuga are Moon's, I think. The Sabaku by Sand, obviously. I can't say I'm too confident in the other villages, though I remember hearing something about the Raikage and Tsuchikage lines being from Lightning and Stone respectively." </p><p>"More than I expected, though there are two very important ones you missed in your own village." Hashirama mused. "Night created two clans, at very different times, with very different intentions. The first clan she seeded was the counterbalance to the Senju, the Hyuuga and the Otsutsuki; the Uchiha."</p><p>That stopped him short. "Night created the Uchiha?"</p><p>"In her image, no less." Hashirama's smile was wane, millenia of sorrow coming to the forefront. "The Uchiha were a powerful force, and even now remain one of the few clans that have not waned in power. They were darkness incarnate - her pitch black hair, sunless pale skin and inky eyes that could swirl red with the Sharingan - eyes that no amount of darkness could shield you from. Her children were not to be lost in the dark, and that fire she filled their heads with was just as unrelenting. Fire, you see, is the ultimate agent of change. It can cleanse hurt, create room for new things to grow, and cauterize and eliminate rot. But, in the end, all fire, even hers, eventually dies out, and in that wake it leaves only void and smoke."</p><p>Kakashi's world was tilting on its axis, and he didn't think Hashirama had any idea. </p><p>"The Uchiha are beautiful, resilient and so, so devoted." She looked up to the sky, a smile lit with memories on her lips. "And that is what Madara was - and is - to me. He's the fire that burned away what of me was old and complacent, using the ashes to furtilize the ground and allow new growth. He was that driving force for my favourite, Tobirama, whether he liked it or not, and Madara's love for me, his <em>respect</em> for me, was singular. He was no one's servant but mine, and he challenged me at every step without ever revoking that adoration. I was helpless but to return it, and when age claimed him, I took him. He remains the fire in my heart, the prickly thistle that soaks up my love and care in return for the most lovely blossoms. And I have Night to thank for him."</p><p>"That's . . . Wow. And I thought Minato and Kushina's love story was intense."</p><p>"Minato, for all her fiery passions and heat, is a predictable and dutiful woman." She chuckled. "Her rise and set mark the cycles of the world, so it makes sense to me that she took to one of the Uzumaki. Kushina is a lot like Madara in that sense - an opposite that fills spaces we didn't know were empty. Kushina is the wrath Minato can never quite summon, the cloud cover when Minato's too intense. They balance, water and fire."</p><p>"I suppose that's true." He cocked his head, the gloom around them growing deeper with every step. The lingering air of misery hung low and oppressive, the way it does in long-abandoned homes and ruins overgrown with aggressive vines - only the plants, ignorant of the pain, are even around to witness it. "What about her other clan?"</p><p>"Ah, yes. Well, you see, with the Uchiha being so powerful, the other clans and naturally seeded mortals had no love of them. Wars broke out, and only our direct intervention kept it from being a massacre. Many of the clans had their gifts reined in, notably the Otsutsuki. Creation withdrew her strength from the clan, and they scattered. Some are still around, but without the presence of a clan, their powers are nominal and weak. It was their punishment for the jealousy they had of the Uchiha, who they saw as competitors to their place in the world order. Joke was on them, in the end. Their own actions led to them being succeeded by the Senju, not even the Uchiha."</p><p>"Huh. I didn't know any of this."</p><p>"You wouldn't have. This was long before history as you now know it. Part of the reason you <em>don't</em> know is because we wanted it to die, for the blood to disappear into the soil and old wounds to rest. And yet, somehow, the stigma of the Uchiha persisted. Because they were dark creatures, they were evil creatures that provoked the Otsutsuki. Their reputation among the non-clan mortals became twisted and sour, and they never truly escaped it. Since Night was their creator, she was the source of Uchiha pollution, and eventually, her own clan came to resent her for their creation."</p><p>"That's tragic."</p><p>"Night loved them, but she knew she couldn't press her love onto them. She still cares for them, and she's never expressed a desire for revenge. Instead, to absolve them both, she made a weaker clan, with a new suite of abilities. They kept a certain level of darkness, but they were never <em>black</em>. She gave them dominion over shadow and a companionship with prey animals that run in the dark. She called them Nara, and then she let them loose in my forests with my blessing."</p><p>Kakashi felt like a fool for not figuring out that the Nara were Night's own. Who else would give them dominion over shadows?</p><p>"She wanted the Nara to speak for her, and for the Uchiha, but ultimately that distance she had with them disconnected them from her. Now, the Nara will never fear the darkness, the evening, and they still offer their reverence to her. But they're a reserved clan, perhaps the strongest trait they share with their creator, and their lack of flourish disconnected the Naras from the Uchiha, and Night herself. She's struggled ever since, bearing the weight of fear and hatred in silence. Even when we try to help her, like Moon creating the Phases, all that happens is that the new moon is dreaded and the full moon calls for celebration. We can't save her."</p><p>"Why don't the Nara do anything for her?"</p><p>"What can they do? They're twilight in comparison to the Uchiha's midnight, and she's the deep before dawn to even them. She pulled away to protect those she loves, even if that was likely not the best thing she could have done."</p><p>"I guess." He rolled his shoulders. "I wouldn't leave Minato behind."</p><p>"Maybe not, but this was millenia ago." She opened up another path, the night to murky he could barely see where they were headed. The oppressive air had only thickened, and it felt like suffocation and drowning. "She's been here ever since. And perhaps its that personal touch she needs. Just one light, and perhaps she'll see that the door to her cage lays open."</p><hr/><p>The woods gave way to a clearing, almost impossible to see in. In the centre of the clearing, where a dense tree canopy blocked out the sun and the moon, sat the remains of a crumbling ruin. It's steep, dark walls were laying in stone slabs, half-sunk into the earth. The volcanic rock was the only measure of location in the gloom, managing to glint in the dimness, the broken Uchiha fan in pieces. Three days' worth of walking had led here, to this broken monument. </p><p>"Unfortunately, from here, you're on your own." Hashirama said. "I wish you luck, and farewell. Oh! And pass on my love to her, won't you?"</p><p>"Yeah, I will." He offered a lazy wave back to her as she melted into the trees, then turned his attention back to the ruin in front of him. Minato's kunai was cold against his thigh, and he had little to comfort him in the moments before he committed. But then, he supposed, he'd committed to this the moment he walked into the forest with Hashirama. </p><p>He carefully picked his way through the scattered ruins, this fingertips running along the engraved rock. He took one more breath before he stepped over the threshold into the void beyond the door. </p>
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